e College News
Vol. XVIII, No. 10
WAYNE AND BRYN MAWR, PA., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1932
Price, 10 Cents
f
Picasso Paintings on
- View in Gooclhart
Abstraction Versus Realism Is
Discussed by Mr.
Warburg.
Culture of Greece in
Bronze Age Discussed
(Specially contributed by Mr. Warburg)
Throughout all art and all time the
artist-creator has had one great com-
promise to make. He has had before
him an object and he has had within
him an idea. The union of these two
on a canvas or in any' other medium
demands a compromise. In order that
the result might be art, the artist had
to win out. As a matter of fact he
could not do otherwise, for the original
inspiration could not be made to re-
exist under the same natural elements
of gravity, light and texture, once it
had been transferred into a new
medium�it could only exist in illu-
sion. The building of that illusion has
occupied many painters and sculptors,"
but it is rare that the illusion, no mat-
ter how interestingly put together, has
been worthy of its original in nature.
Wc nee d only go to Madame Tussaud's
to see the futility of expecting art from
a reproduction of nature attempted in
necessarily unequivalent materials.
But more often the artist realizes the
futility of aiming at reproducing the
visual world. He then begins to com-
pose with this world as his keyboard,
and his purpose -turns from the recording
of order into -a creation of order.
Into this composition or organism' he
may bring anything he chooses; it may
come from the elements in the out-
side world, it may come from his
dreams, or it may even be taken from
the forms of pure geometry. No mat-
ter from what source, its importance,
from the art standpoint, lies in its
ordered correlation and in the interest
and personality of that order.
One cannot find, however, an" art in
which the artist's personality does not
intrude somewhere. Still we can
classify the various arts according to
whether they deal in representative or
abstract elements in order to express
their intrinsic order. Architecture,
music (except program music), and
Continued on Pugr Four
*i� ^ast Saturday evening the Depart-
ment of Classical Archaeology pre-
sented Dr. Hetty Goldman, a Bryn
Mawr graduate, who spoke on "Greece
and Her Neighbors in the Bronze
Age." Dr. Goldman has been working
in Greece on the problem of the out-
side influences on Grecian culture dur-
ing the Bronze, or Helladic Age. At
the beginning of her talk Dr. Goldman
divided the period into nine small divi-
sions, which she treated in groups of
three, as the early Helladic, the mid-
dle or Minoan and the late, or My-
cenean. It has long been thought the
Bronze Age people migrated from
Asia Minor through Northern Greece
and on down the peninsula, early in
the first Helladic period, but recent
discoveries in which Dr. Goldman has
participated, have proved that the earli-
est migrations reached the mainland
by way of the Cyclades. Influence
from the north is not discernible until
the third period of the early Helladic.
Between the large divisions of the early
and middle Helladic there arc evidences
of a great revolution in the culture of
the mainland, and a slight resultant de-
cline. Definite signs of intercourse
with Crete are found in this period:
some decoration of the Minoan pottery
showing influences of the contemporary
Minoan period of Cretan art. Theories
as to how this influence reached the
mainland are many and varied. Some
students of the subject (including Miss
Goldman) think that the earthquake
which destroyed the Labyrinth of
Knossus may have sent a horde of
Cretan artesans north to seek work
from their more prosperous "neighbors.
The final division, Dr. Goldman said,
Miss Ely Tells of Shaw
on Tour Through Russia
On Tuesday, January 5, Miss Ger-
trude Kly spoke on her trip to Russia
with Bernard Shaw and Lady Astor
and her husband. Miss Ely pointed
out that when people become indig-
nant at everything Shaw says about
Russia, they are not giving him credit
for ever having done anythiivg in his
life, nor for being able to think any-
thing out for himself. When Shaw
was asked why he wanted to go to
Russia, he replied that he,had always
said the system in Russia was right,
and he realized if he were going to
support tbaf theory he had better go
there and be able to base his state-
ment on first-hand authority. As far
back as the "Fabian Essays" Shaw
stood for tolerance, and in 1918 he
sent Lenin a book inscribed to him
but never heard of it again.
In Moscow the party was met by
great crowds, and Shaw "threw out
his chest and turned up his beard to
meet the photographers." They were
put in the charge of the government
and never during their visit felt
watched or suspected. The first thing
Shaw asked to see was Lenin's tomb.
Tney went early before the great
% .crowds of people who .gather�there
every afternoon to go through the
tomb between seven and nine. These
people take a very natural attitude
towards it rather than a worshipful one.
Lenin's body lies in a glass cedfin in
the centre of the building, clothed in
khaki and covered with a blanket.
Shaw remarked on the inbred aristoc-
racy which showed so plainly in him.
Shaw, not the government, decided
where the party was to go. They vis-
ited the park of Culture and Rest, the-
atrical set-ups, day-nurseries, and anti-
C�atlaa*d �� Pa�� Tfcra*
Continued on Page Three
Dr. Stebbing Refutes
Metaphysical Physicists
�
Denies
New Abstractness of
Physical Science Supports
Idealism.
CONDEMNS SCANT TRAIN
"Nowadays everything a physical
scientist says is listened to with great
awe," declared Dr. J. Susan Stebbing
Friday afternoon in the Common Room
at Goodhart, "and," she continued, set-
ting the tone of her lecture on "Physi-
cal Scientists in Philosophy," "they
feel they can throw caution to the
winds and use language they don't
understand."
Dr. Stebbing holds no brief for Sir
James Jeans, author of "The Mys-
terious Universe"; on the contrary, she
seemed disposed to agree with his own
statement that he is a philosopher
"neither by training nor by inclina-
tion." With Eddington, author of "The
Nature of the Physical \Vorld," he
maintains that recent discoveries in
physics establish an idealistic idea of
the universe. Eddington assumes two
premises which, more serious though
no more' valid, hold that physics is in-
creasingly abstract, and recognize the
"principle of indeterminacy."
On the basis of increasing abstract-
ness and- of the argument of the Cave
Jeans declares that there is "abundant
evidence that God is the-pure mathe-
matician, and the universe his thoughts;
but later he says. "The universe is
God's thinking." These cannot both
be quite the same,thing and Dr. Steb-
bing commented. "In. my opinion it is.
Yehudi Menuhin
Menuhin to Give
Concert at Academy
Boy Violinist Stages Benefit
for Bryn Mawr Chinese
Scholarship Fund.
quite clear that mathematical expres-
sions or facts are what the mathema-
tician thinks about, not his thoughts in
the sense of thinking." Finally, he
stresses the urgency of getting rid of
anthropomorphic notions, yet making
God a mathematical colleague is the
most anthropomorphic conception ever
put forth, and one totally unsustained
by evidence.
Eddington, though he too supposes
that modern physics show that a uni-
versal mind may plausibly be inferred,
OhUim4 �� Tmg* Three
Yehudi Menuhin, the boy violinist,
will give a recital at the Academy of
Music on Wednesday afternoon, Janu-
ary 17, under the auspices of the llryn
Mawr Chinese Scholarship Committee,
which, started fifteen yea/s.ago by
some-Bryn Mawr Alumnae, aims to
promote understanding between the
East and the West by bringing Chinese
students to the college. The theory
on wjiich the committee was founded
has been more than justified by the
five students they have given Bryn
Mawr. Besides supporting the scholar-
ship, the committee also provides for
its members lectures and exhibitions
on various aspects, cultural as well
as political, of China.
Yehudi, who will be fifteen two days
before his �New York appearance on
January 24, is returning from an amaz-
ingly successful tour of the great music
centres of Europe. At Mannheim,
where, with the Philharmonic, Rosen-
stock conducting, he played three great
concertos�by Bach, Bruch, and Beeth-
oven�he, was recalled- twenty times.
In Rome he enjoyed the distinction
of working with Respighi, and he has
collaborated with such artists as Alfred
Cortot and Georges Enesco, ,with
whom in a gala Paris concert he
played Bach's Double Concerto, while
the great Pierre Montcaux, conducted
the orchestra.
Although Yehudi made his public
appearance at the age of seven, as
soloist with the San Francisco Or-
chestra, he has been very carefully
guarded from the dangers which may
overtake a child prodigy; he spends
six months of every year in absolute
retirement with his family near Paris,
where he studies. Last summer, how-
ever, he traveled six thousand miles,
including a trip to the Riviera, where
he could swim, and to Salzburg, where
he could hear the music of Mozart.
The critics have been unstinted in
their praise. Perhaps the greatest com-
pliment one can pay him, however, is
to say, with the Washington Star (Feb-
ruary 14. 1931) that* calling Yehudi
Menuhin a prodigy is "no longer fair.
He is infinitely more than that. He i~
one of the greatest violinists of this
day."
His program on January 27 will be
as follows:
1. Sonata in D Minor, opus 121,
Schumann
2. ,Sonata for violin alone in A
Minor ................................J. S. Bach
3. Concerto in G Minor, onus 26. |
College Authorities and Undergrad President
Express Views on Decision to Hold May Day
Majority Pleased That Undergraduates Resolved to Carry on
Traditional Celebration in Face of Depression;
Enthusiastic Co-operation Urged.
BUDGET REDUCED BY LEADERS' GENEROSITY
4.
Bruch
Tzigane ......................................Ravel
Guitarre ........Moszkowski-Sarasate
La Ronde des Lutins............Bazzinr
Caprice XXIV ....................Paganini
Professor De Laguna Honored
Professor Grace A. De Laguna was,
at the Christmas meeting, unanimously
elected vice-president of the Eastern
Division of the American Philosophical
Association, for the coming year. Pro-
fessor Whitehead, of Harvard, is the
retiring president of the association.
By a vote of 2<<X to 67, the under-
graduate body indicated its desire to
have Big May- Day this spring in
spite of all murmurs to the contrary.
Thirty-three people said that they
would not be in it if it were given.
These figures were the result of the
hall vote, taken, because enough opinion
was not represented at the meeting of
the Undergraduate Association held
for that purpose.
Harriet Moore, presiding at this
meeting on January 6, pointed out that
duly two objections could be made to
May Day: one based on the depression
awd the other on the work involve'd.
The budget for this year has been
fixed at $13,000 with $4200 returnable.
'Ibis reduced budget, less than that for
1920, has not been cut on the side of the
pageant. It was made possible by
cutting the printing jobs, bui princi-
pally because Mrs. Collins, Mr. King,
Miss Petts, Miss Kitzelnian and
alumnae who are coming back as
helpers have refused to accept salaries
for their work. The preparatory
schools, which usually send large
groups of students, are enthusiastic
about attending this year.
The minimum annum
those participating will be two periods
a week of dancing. Mr. King will give
Ahe three traditional plays, aud the
plays in the cloister and on the greens
will be done by the students. Students
will also find opportunities for work on
the costumes or on the various com
mittees.
The discussion following Miss
Moore's analysis of the factors enter-
ing into an opinion on May Day cen-
tered chiefly on the question of the
amount of -work involved. The most
telling remarks made were those of
Virginia Hobart and Helen Bell, both
of whom were in the'last big May Day,
Stressing the amount of fun which the
students have in being in May Day.
Mrs. Manning
I am very glad that the undergradu-
ates have decided to give May Day.
While I have no doubt that big Max
Day performance results in somewhat
less academic work being done between
the spring vacation and the end of the
year than in ordinary years, my experi-
ence has been that the work for Ma>
Day is fairly well distributed among
the student Ixnly and does not fall very
heavily on individuals. I know that the
experience of taking part in a per-
formance of such real beauty aud his-
toric interest is one which no Bryn
Mawr alumna wjio had it would be
willing to have missed, and I feel fairry
confident, therefore, that the present
undergraduate body will be glad that
they undertook it. It seems appropri-
ate in this year that the production of
May Day should be simpler than it has
been in the last two performances, and
I myself believe that the total effect
depends more oil the. tiUltu.-w.slic par*
ticipation and successful tca.ni play of
the whole student body than on any
other one factor.
Mrs. Collins
The questions on May Day for imme-
diate decision by the undergraduates after
mid-years are over are" the number and
choice <ef the plays to l>e given and the
election of the May (Jiicin.�In l"2fl five
Mr. King
Mr. Samuel Arthur King is in charge
of the plays. He will give a detailed
interview to the Nkws when his plans
are more completely organized.
Miss Petts
Since it is a Bryn Mawr tradition
to have May Day once every four years
1 am glad that the students believe in
carrying out in an emergency the nor-
mal schedule of events as far as pos-
sible. I think we all agree that in
giving May Day there is one thing
that we must be sure of: that it will
be as beaVtiful, charming and character-
istic of liryn Mawr's hot efforts as
May Day always has been. The work ^
of the physical education department-1
will be carried on as much as possible
in its usual manner: that is, there will
be required classes for Freshmen and
Sophomores, but the work in classes
will consist for the most part of danc-
ing. .Aside from varsity swimming ami
basketball and possibly tennis, lacrossr
ami fencing will be the only sports reg-
ularly carried on. The physical educa-
tion department has charge of ,the
� ^a-gwmt-aHd-the-gFeens. The- pageant
consists of the procession which in-
cludes the queen's court, all dances,
players and village folk. The green is
tin- scene of the dancing, tumbling-and
booths for food.
H. Moore, '32
In voting overwhelmingly in favor
of giving May Day the student body
has assumed the rtfcsponsibility for
carrying it through. They must realize,
and I think they do, that the initiative
in this matter conies from them. They
are asking Mrs. Collins, Miss Petts and
Mr. King to help them, not vice versa.
\*ow it is their business to co-operate
in the work to the fullest of their
ability, for the success of May Day
depends on each one doing her part,
no matter how small it may be, volun-
tarily and without waiting to be urged.
I am sure everyone realizes these
I" tacts and everyone is eager to get
started on May Day.
Miss Park
May Day is always met, I take it,
with a somewhat divided'mind. The
work which must underlie that leisurely
procession through Pembroke Arch
affects everyone, faculty or student,
who is hoarding time for some other
use, "anfl everyone but a gambler
cringes before the risk of having the
whole structure topple over through the
chance of a rainy day. But in the
succession of student votes the assets
of May Day have always outweighed
its liabilities in the end. The interest
and experience of preparing the great
pageant, and the final exciting beauty
of the performance reward even the
central committee. And as a by-prod-
uct, every four years the college has
repeated its' contribution to the few
beautiful and distinguished spectacles
"of America.
This year not only the usual pros and
cons Stood ready for active service in
the discussions but the problem of the
advisability of such an enterprise in
such a vear was added. This serious
question made it necessary for the di-
rectors of the college to express their
longer plays, two short ones and tWO
masques were given. In 1924 six longer
plays (one by Alumnae), two short plays
and one masque were given while in 1928
only five longer plays (one by the Thome
School) and two short plays were given.
This reduction in the number of plays
proved very satisfactory. The one longer
play which has been given at every May-
Day and without which May Day can-
not be imagined is Robin Hood. The
version was written by Elizabeth T. Daly,
190L;who�directed the May Days of 1910
judgment first, for the financial respon-
sibility goes back to them; they must
not only advance the sum needed for ��
the preliminary expenses, but also, as
in any other college enterprise where
our good name is involved, meet any
deficit. \v'
May Day has always" paid for itself,
and twice, in 1920 and again in 1928,
it contributed its relatively large sur-
plus�in the first year, to the endow-
ment fund, and in the second to various
student activities. The directors of the
CNaiMd �� Far* Tw�